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Taliban attack election commission HQ in Kabul ahead of vote

Mirwais Harooni and Jessica Donati

A Taliban attack on the Independent Election Commission headquarters in Kabul on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Kabul: Taliban insurgents attacked the Independent Election Commission headquarters in Kabul, staff and police said in their third big assault on the capital this week aimed at derailing the April 5 presidential election.

Afghan security forces battled the militants for about five hours on Saturday, while frightened IEC staff and eight international United Nations employees took refuge in safe rooms inside the compound, a security source and staff said.

Four suicide bombers were involved in the attack and all were killed in gun battles, according to an Afghan army general on the scene in the eastern part of the capital.

"The fight is over. All four terrorists have been killed. An investigation team is in the area," said commander Qadam Shah Shaheem, adding that three security force members had been injured in the operation.

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No other casualties were reported.

With a week to go before Afghanistan's presidential election, escalating violence across the country risks undermining the credibility of a vote meant to mark the first democratic transfer of power in Afghan history.

It was the second IEC building this week to have been targeted by the Taliban. The attack occurred less than 24 hours after militants stormed a guest house used by a US-based aid group. A child was killed in Friday's attack.

Kabul is on high alert ahead of the presidential election that Taliban insurgents have threatened to scuttle with a campaign of bombings and assassinations.

Election commission staff heard an initial explosion at around noon on Saturday at the IEC headquarters, followed by gunfire and rockets, one of which damaged a warehouse inside the compound, according to an IEC employee.

"Four suicide bombers armed with light and heavy weapons have entered a building near the IEC headquarters and are shooting towards the IEC compound and at passersby," Mohammad Zahir, the Kabul police chief, told reporters near the site of the attack at the time it was going on.

The IEC compound is close to the United Nations Office Complex in Afghanistan (UNOCA) and other international organisations.

"I am here ... The attack is going on around the IEC compound," commission spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor told Reuters by telephone from a safe room inside the building.

He said that IEC personnel were safe and Afghan security forces were in control of their building.

UN staff at the complex near the IEC premises were instructed to take refuge in safe rooms.

Earlier, Haji Mohibullah, the owner of a house used to shoot at the IEC building said that three guards were present when it was taken by Taliban militants who were disguised as women in the traditional burqa.